TSMC secures 3nm order commitments from multiple chip suppliers

On August 19, sources at IC design companies revealed that TSMC continues to secure 3nm chip order commitments from suppliers such as Apple and Intel, despite rival Samsung Electronics aggressively vying for 3nm chip orders, DIGITIMES reported.

Samsung is working to expand its 3nm customer portfolio, but has yet to make significant progress, the sources said. For TSMC's 3nm customers, moving orders away from TSMC could be costly.

TSMC's 3nm process will still have a FinFET transistor architecture, while Samsung's 3nm node has a GAA transistor architecture. Samsung is even ahead of TSMC in shifting its 3nm process technology to volume production.

However, sources point out that AMD, Apple, Broadcom, Intel, MediaTek, Nvidia and Qualcomm have all placed orders for 3nm chips with TSMC. But Samsung's 3nm GAA process has yet to attract orders from major chip suppliers.

Qualcomm is seen as the most likely customer for Samsung's 3nm GAA process, given the fabless supplier's supplier diversification strategy and other considerations for its business with Samsung's mobile division, the sources said.